Question for you MarterPHA+RG9lcyBEb20gcmVhbGx5IGRpZT8gQmVjYXVzZSBJIGFscmVhZHkga25ldyBoZSBoYWQgYSBzb24sIGJ1dCBzb21lIGRpY2toZWFkIG9uIEZhY2Vib29rIHdhcyBiZWluZyBhIGRpY2toZWFkIGFuZCBub3cgSSBoYXZlIHRvIGtub3cuPC9wPg==

This is one of those franchises I feel weird about. I've enjoyed a few of the previous movies, but it's never been one I had to see. More like something I see with friends when we want to see a movie and there aren't many options.

Bob_McMillan:If you actually care about the franchise, DON'T click the spoiler.

Question for you MarterPHA+RG9lcyBEb20gcmVhbGx5IGRpZT8gQmVjYXVzZSBJIGFscmVhZHkga25ldyBoZSBoYWQgYSBzb24sIGJ1dCBzb21lIGRpY2toZWFkIG9uIEZhY2Vib29rIHdhcyBiZWluZyBhIGRpY2toZWFkIGFuZCBub3cgSSBoYXZlIHRvIGtub3cuPC9wPg==

Laughing Man:So judging by the trailer can we officially say this series of movies has officially jumped the submarine then? (Happy Days reference there folks.)

Too funny! But it likely did that a very, very, very, very, very long time ago!

I watched, I think 5 or 6 and just kind of let the pretty nonsense flow over me having some fun with alcohol. I read that it made more money than the Star Wars movies. As someone that wants something that is not completely inane and fun to look at (Like Xmen movies with just a little teeny bit more sense) I worry about Hwood making so much cash on something so stupid and thinking they need not offer the public anymore.

Seems unfair to pick on one franchise but they're so successful them make themselves a ripe target.

FF: You're fun to look at but Hwood: give us some coherent fun movies please.

People name kids after important people in their lives all the time. Friends, family, old teachers. You don't have to be dead to have someone name a kid after you if you're important to the person.

I didn't say you have to be, I just find it odd. In this case my point is also fairly self evident, they're obviously doing it precisely because he's dead, yet the character isn't, so it doesn't quite fit.

pookie101:people may dismiss the franchise but this movie made more than the force awakens .. its the biggest blockbuster in history.

i went wow when i heard that. i had no idea it was that popular..

Context is important.

It had the highest grossing worldwide opening at the box office - but it also opened simultaneously in most of the big markets. Most of the time, those releases are staggered. The Force Awakens, for instance, didn't open in China until almost a month later (where it grossed $52m its opening weekend, and if we were to add that in, it would easily still be the top).

It's still a long ways off from beating The Force Awakens' total take - or Avatar's, which is actually the highest-grossing blockbuster in history (since the "record" we're talking is international; it's true, though, that Force Awakens is the biggest domestic release).

I agree with Marter though, on the one hand the franchise is by far and away the most low-brow collection of moronic cliches imaginable, but on the other hand it can be strangely enthralling. Watching these films is the cinematic equivalent of probing a rotten tooth with your tongue - you know you shouldn't do it but somehow you just can't help yourself.